November042014

November032014

"Previously, researchers had misidentified skeletons as male simply because they were buried with their swords and shields. By studying osteological signs of gender within the bones themselves, researchers discovered that approximately half of the remains were actually female warriors, given a proper burial with their weapons."

how many other ‘discoveries’ were prevented from happening because men applied current ‘gender norms’ to past cultures?!

We were grabbing a bite of lunch at a small cafe, in a mall, right across from a booth that sold jewelry and where ears could be pierced for a fee. A mother approaches with a little girl of six or seven years old. The little girl is clearly stating that she doesn’t want her ears pierced, that’s she’s afraid of how much it will hurt, that she doesn’t like earrings much in the first place. Her protests, her clear ‘no’ is simply not heard. The mother and two other women, who work the booth, begin chatting and trying to engage the little girl in picking out a pair of earrings. She has to wear a particular kind when the piercing is first done but she could pick out a fun pair for later.

"I don’t want my ears pierced."

"I don’t want any earrings."

The three adults glance at each other conspiratorially and now the pressure really begins. She will look so nice, all the other girls she knows wear earrings, the pain isn’t bad.

She, the child, sees what’s coming and starts crying. As the adults up the volume so does she, she’s crying and emitting a low wail at the same time. “I DON’T WANT MY EARS PIERCED.”

Her mother leans down and speaks to her, quietly but strongly, the only words we could hear were ‘… embarrassing me.’

We heard, then, two small screams, when the ears were pierced.

Little children learn early and often that ‘no doesn’t mean no.’

Little children learn early that no one will stand with them, even the two old men looking horrified at the events from the cafeteria.

In the 1930s, men’s nipples were just as provocative, shameful and taboo as women’s are now, and men were protesting in much the same way. In 1930, four men went topless to Coney Island and were arrested. In 1935, a flash mob of topless men descended upon Atlantic City, 42 of whom were arrested. Men fought and they were heard, changing not only laws but social consciousness. And by 1936, men’s bare chests were accepted as the norm.

So why is it that 80 years later women can’t seem to achieve the same for their chests? Why can’t a mother proudly breastfeed her child in public without feeling sexualized? why is a 17-year-old girl being asked to leave her own prom because a group of fathers find her too provocative?

[…] I am not trying to argue for mandatory toplessness, or even bralessness. What I am arguing for is a woman’s right to choose how she represents her body — and to make that choice based on personal desire and not a fear of how people will react to her or how society will judge her. No woman should be made to feel ashamed of her body.

”

— Scout Willis, in XOJane, on Instagram’s nudity policy and why she recently strolled the NYC streets topless. Solid essay all around. I found this piece particularly interesting because I’d never heard about the men’s nipples thing. (via batmansymbol)

“I like clothes now. I have more energy. I sleep better. My sex drive is up. Blood’s flowing. I’m less susceptible to impulse. I’m in a different mode. When I was way out of shape, the idea of using whitening strips on my teeth seemed terrible. I have to do that every day? I’ll never do it. What you want is instant results when you’re out of shape. You want your teeth whitened in 45 minutes with the use of lasers. But when you’re in shape, you know it’s the result of doing a little bit every day. Moments aren’t just moments. A moment might be a week or a month. So instead of Boy, I’d love to eat this hamburger right now, I’m considering a little further into the future. I’m thinking, I eat that hamburger and that’s 1,200 calories, and I’m gonna work out tomorrow and lose 800 calories. I may as well eat a salad here, still do that workout, and then I’m actually making progress.” — Chris Pratt

Wow!! A new commission post since my last one was kind of boring and this one actually has my art on it!!

So basically I start ~college~ in a few weeks and I’m going to be needing money for things like gas and books and clothes! I’ll try and keep this post updated with new links to better examples of my art as time wears on. All of my current art can be found at my deviantart or my art blog.

Emofuri PSD: ~$15 +$5 animation [depends on the complexity of the character. See link for examples, works best with characters with short hair but isn’t limited. I’m still practicing so I hope to get better soon!]

Additional Character: +$5

Each Character After That: +$2

Business cards/flyers/announcements: ask for a quote, this is what im actually trained to do and what I get paid to do most often tbh

I don’t have a lot of hard no’s that i won’t do, but I will say that I’m not particularly good at drawing nudity or people interacting in complex positions, so take caution when commissioning those. I’ll probably refuse to be honest.

I take paypal and google wallet commissions. Also if you get something off my sockdreams wishlist, that’s acceptable payment as well.

I am making homemade candles as a way to help support myself and my family. Custom candles will hopefully be done as well.

My main goal for the candles is for them to be LGTBQA+ themed: lesbian, gay, transsexual, bisexual, queer, and asexual. Overtime I hope to produce more candles for all the orientations, identities, romantic attractions, and even the relationships.

I honestly do not have any experience with candle making but that will not stop me from tying to produce quality candles for the people willing to buy them from me.

After I receive the money I will immediately buy all the materials that are needed for candle making. Afterwards, I plan on making a stock of candles and sell them via Etsy.

After calculating everything, it all it comes out to 1,375.02$ but I am asking for 1,500$ in case I am short on materials or shipping costs. If all 1,500$ isn’t met in time I will still use whatever I have to get started on making the candles. I hope to be able to make colored, scented, and possibly custom candles for everyone.

A few risks and challenges will be in the production stage. I will essentially be the only one working on the candles with the help from my mom on the weekends and the days she has off. This means that peoples shipments may be a few days late but customers will always be notified if such an event shall occur.

About 3 months ago I did a fundraiser for my family. It was very successful but still wasn’t enough to keep us in the clear, so to speak. This is why I decided to try and sell candles; I can make a product, sell it and people will get something in return.

Message me if you have any questions or inquiries about the fundraiser.
Art work by Hira.

I looooooove cute candles! I’m gonna buy a thousand.Will they be scented?

Yes! They will be scented according to order or what I have already layed out.